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I had some of the highest number of views on my blog when I posted excerpts from my books. So, in the theme of giving the audience what they want, today and tomorrow I will post two new excerpts. The first will be from ”Quest for the Red Sapphire.” I hope you enjoy.“Alright then,” One said as he approached Six. “What is the status of the target?” Six stepped forward and gave her answer, “I have steadily increased the dosage of the poison in her food as planned. Her condition has deteriorated to the point where she should be dead by now.” “Does anyone suspect anything other than natural causes?” One asked. “It is unclear,” Six answered. “She has been increasingly attended by physicians and others. The poison is very difficult to trace. The symptoms are ordinary in nature. It would take a knowledgeable doctor to detect the poison.” “With the finances at her disposal, we must assume that she has such a doctor,” One concluded. “Is our presence suspected?” “Not that I can tell,” Six answered. “I made sure the final doses would be administered by unknowing servants. Not being there when she died, I would never be suspected.” “Let’s get to the point,” interrupted Two. “Did you find the prize?” Six looked sheepish as she sought the proper words. “I located it two weeks ago under her bed. Each day I checked to make sure it was still there. It was there this morning when I took her breakfast, but when I left this evening, it was no longer under the bed.” The other five voices started to murmur in despair. One stopped the bickering once again. “Quiet!” he said. “If she was as bad off as you say, I do not think she would have had the strength to hide it. Correct?” “No Sir,” Six answered confidently. “Then someone else must have taken it,” One surmised. “Did she have any visitors today?” “The doctor came in the morning but he did not have it when he left,” Six answered. “It would have been impossible to hide.” “Anyone else?” pressed One. Six was quiet for a moment, then she spoke quickly. “Her brother came to visit this afternoon. I…I did not see when he left.” “What do you mean?” Two demanded. “How could you not see him leave? Did he take the prize or not?” “I said that I don’t know!” fired back Six. “It’s not like I could just sit there and watch the door all day. How inconspicuous would that be? In order to maintain my cover, I had to see to chores. When I went back to check on her, he was gone.” “And that is the point where you noticed it was missing?” One asked. “I did not have the opportunity to check until the end of my shift. At that point, I noticed the prize was gone.” “Maybe it was hidden somewhere else in the house,” Five said. “If it was,” One surmised, “there is no way to search it with her now being dead. The mansion will be crawling with Town Watch and investigators.” “So we are foiled!” hollered Two. “Great. All these months of work blown in one day!” “Shut up!” Six snapped. “You would have fared no better.” “This arguing is pointless,” One affirmed. “The most likely fate of the prize is that the target suspected foul play and gave it to her brother for safe keeping. If that is the case, then there are two destinations we are most likely to find him. Either he will be at his home on the other side of town or he will have gone to his nephew’s in Missandor.” “So do we split up?” Five asked. “No,” answered One. “We will search faster together. First, we will tear the brother’s house apart. If we do not find it there, then we will move on to her son. Failure is not acceptable in this mission. Now everyone move. We will not sleep this night.” As they scurried down the alley, Two could not help but jab at Six again. “It figures you would blow this for all of us.” “We will have the prize soon,” Six answered back, “but if you say one more thing I will kill you where you stand.” “Save it for our new targets!” yelled One as they entered the street.